Adding to the conversation, Culture Action Europe (CAE) recently shared its reflections on the joint communication ‘Towards a joint strategy…’ and the opinions being developed by the EESC and CoR.

The joint communication was put forward by Commissioner Tibor Navracsics and EU High Representative and Vice-President Frederica Mogherini in June 2016 towards an EU strategy to international cultural relations. It aimed to put cultural cooperation at the centre of the EU's diplomatic relations with countries around the world.

There are three main objectives:

Unlocking the potential of culture and creativity for sustainable social and economic development

In November a study group from the European Economic and Social Committee started investigating the matter further, among other things the group held a hearing on 1 March 2017 in Brussels.

The hearing was also attended by Silvia Costa, from the CULT Committee (Committee on Culture and Education), as well as Elmar Brok, MEP. Additionally, the Committee of the Regions' Rapporteur Apostolos Tzitzikostas responded to the Communication in February:

We appreciate the fact that the Communication recognises culture and cultural heritage as instruments for local and regional development.

Now, Culture Action Europe added additional perspectives to the topic. Among others CAE calls for an appropriate governance of the project, involvement of civil society stakeholders in the development of the strategy and framework, and not only promoting the exchange of artists and cultural 'products' but encourage arts education and outreach activities. The nine points can be read here.